


in tune with your heartbeat

by assclassination (celexte)



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: F/M, just a random thing with gakumana and karumana because i felt like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 05:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13757385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celexte/pseuds/assclassination
Summary: in which okuda manami leaves happiness wherever she goes.





	in tune with your heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO HI!!! i havent written for ac in a while so i hope i've improved(?) anyway here's gakumana and karumana shenanigans because i love them a lot. note that there's like, 0 plot lolol fair warning!!!
> 
> (note that i also lowkey made up a lot of details about kunugigaoka (bc i lowkey forget a lot of details?? wow i have to rewatch ac hEck))

 

Okuda Manami is the small girl who sits in the front corner of Class A, textbook always opened to the right place for the lecture, but her chemistry notebook always lying on top, her careful writing depicting molecular diagrams, chemical equations. When she’s called on to read a passage in the textbook, she quickly closes the chemistry notebook, stammers the passage, flushes under the weight of the gazes of the teacher and her peers’ snickering, and cautiously re-opens the notebook.

Asano Gakushuu sits one seat to the right and behind her. He always reads the material a week in advance, and due to his exceptional memory, he barely has to pay attention to the lectures. Instead, he uses class time to read a chapter ahead. When he’s called on, he simply repeats the passage from memory, his voice drawing the attention of (nearly) everyone in the room, and returns to his studies (which always leaves the teacher and his classmates stunned.)

Gakushuu can’t help but notice that Manami never looks up from her chemistry notes, no matter what. And he also can’t help but notice how he finds himself straying from his studies for a moment whenever she reads - because, for some reason, her voice is… nice. Charming.

On the day their English papers are due, Manami is the only one sans essay. The teacher marches over to her desk, arms crossed, her gaze piercing the top of Manami’s bowed head. The teacher repeats the same spheal, that Manami would end up in Class E if she didn’t work harder, that she’s a disappointment, that -

Gakushuu turns the page in his textbook and continues reading.

 

The library is always crowded. The students of Kunugigaoka are hard workers, after all, some of the most intelligent students in Japan. Gakushuu always has a conference room to himself, of which he shares with his fellow Class A students on occasion. But usually, he prefers silence.

In the conference room, he has a good view of the entire library through the glass windows, so that he can call out students for being disruptive, etc, etc. But it surprises him when he sees a purple-haired girl timidly wander through the doors of the library.

 _The chemistry girl,_ he thinks idly. _Right. Okuda Manami._

Not a new face, but a new face to the library.

She looks a little lost in the giant library - he understands that sentiment - and finally finds a sign that directs her to the aisle featuring English grammar and vocabulary. Ah, he understands.

“Asano-kun!” comes a jovial voice. It’s Sakakibara Ren. “Long time no -”

“Oh, hi,” Gakushuu says blankly, pretending to look up from his Economics notebook. “I’m actually expecting someone later, so I’d like if you could come back in…” He checks his watch. “...Thirty minutes, perhaps.”

Ren blinks, then hurriedly nods. “Of course. See you then.” He exits. Gakushuu wonders what the _hell_ he’s thinking.

He sighs and picks up the handphone connected to the intercom. “Okuda Manami, come to Conference Room 6 as soon as possible. That is, Okuda Manami.” He’s never said her name out loud before, so it feels a little strange.

Around thirty seconds later, the girl arrives, and cautiously knocks on the door of the conference room. “Come in,” Gakushuu says, feeling a little amused by her timid politeness.

“Hi, um, Asano-san?” Manami squeaks, entering and shutting the door quietly behind her. “I-I’m sorry, for…”

Gakushuu blinks. “For what?”

She shakes her head. “N-nevermind.” She plays with the hem of her skirt for a second, then lifts her head to look at him. Lavender eyes meet lavender eyes. “Why did you call me here?”

Straightforward. Gakushuu pauses, wondering how exactly to phrase the sentiment. “...I’ve never seen you in the library before,” he finally says. “And I heard what the teacher said in class the other day -”

Manami looks confused, and a sudden realization dawns across her face. “Oh, you’re in my class?”

 _Well, that explains one thing,_ he thinks dryly to himself. “...Well, yes. Have a seat.”

She does, at the other end of the conference table. He urges her closer, so she takes a seat next to Gakushuu at the head of the table, fidgeting like a scared rabbit. He wonders what it is - maybe the fact that he is Asano Gakushuu, or maybe just her personality, and it just hits him that he’s not close to her and that he might never be.

Gakushuu clears his throat, shuffles his textbooks off to the side. “I just thought you might want some… help in English, per se.”

“Ah.” She seems embarrassed, and shakes her head. “N-no, really, I don’t… want to waste your time. Besides, I can… handle it.”

He pauses. “Could I read your essay?”

Manami spares him a glance. “...Do you have the time?”

“I do.” He’s curious, really, is the overarching emotion. Okuda Manami seems studious, bright, and ambitious enough.

Manami shuffles around in her notebooks and retrieves her essay, handing it to him hesitantly. He scans it quickly - he’s had a lot of experience with quickly reading documents - and ponders while he reads it. An average thesis, but well-executed with solid claims and a satisfactory conclusion.

“Turn it in tomorrow,” Gakushuu says, handing it back to her. “I’ll… pull some strings.”

Again, he wonders what the hell he’s thinking.

She shakes her head again, offering a smile. “No… It’s okay, really, Asano-san. I didn’t finish revising the essay, so I didn’t turn it in. It’s late, so it won’t be accepted anymore. But I appreciate your time and your consideration.” Her words are mechanical. She puts the essay away and gives him a careful bow before leaving the room.

She’s honest. Gakushuu finds himself slightly stunned.

Ren enters the room maybe fifteen seconds later. “Who was that?” he asks with curiosity. “Someone from your class?”

“...Yeah,” Gakushuu answers indifferently, pulling his textbooks back in front of him. “Well, it’s over with now. Shall we get to it?”

 

Gakushuu helps mail out letters two days from then, when the school is out on winter break.

When he gets to Manami’s letter, he falters. He excuses himself and goes outside into the cool winter air and walks down the street. He thumbs quickly through the contacts book on his phone - he has all the addresses and phone numbers of everyone noted down there.

He arrives in front of her house, exhales a long snowy breath, and deposits the letter in the mailbox.

When school starts up again, the front corner seat is empty.

  


“Ah,” Manami says, looking blankly at the redhead occupying the front corner seat of Class E. “I think this is my seat.”

The guy glances up at her with catlike golden eyes and gives her a half smile. “...So you’re Okuda Manami,” he comments.

“I am, yes,” she nods, a little puzzled.

He snickers and gets up from the seat. Every single one of his movements are elegant, measured. “I’m Akabane Karma,” he says. “I sit behind you, apparently.”

Manami blinks. The name feels familiar. “Ah… wait,” she gasps, pointing a finger at him. “You’re the other person who also got a perfect score on the Chemistry final.”

Karma widens his eyes for a moment and lets out a good-natured chuckle. “Right, right. I’m touched you remembered me… Okuda-san. Well, I guess we’ll be together for a while, hm? Class E and all.”

_Class E._

The heavy sentiment begins to sink in. Manami forces a trembling smile. “...Yeah. Best of luck to you, Akabane-san. Best of luck to the two of us.”

 

First of all, over anything else, Akabane Karma is a troublemaker. A good one, at that. It means that no matter how disruptive he might be, people can still find the heart to forgive him. The girls of Class E have collectively decided that he’s a devil - but an endearing one - and the boys of Class E have decided he’s somehow cool in his aloofness. Manami attributes this outcome to Karma’s charming smile and almost-innocent catlike appearance.

He saunters into the dilapidated chemistry lab that afternoon. “Okuda-san,” he warbles. “Would you happen to have any, ah, cyclohexane on hand?” She did, but that's beside the point. She asks him what he’d use it for, and a dark smile came upon his face. “Some jerks from Class A were saying some crude things, and did some worse things,” he tells her lightly, and leaves it at that.

Manami decides to provide him with a little beaker of the chemical. “Good luck,” she tells him. “By the way, I don’t advocate violence.”

“Of course you don’t,” he croons, accepting the bit of chemical with tenderness. “You advocate for the greater good. I like that about you.”

Karma waves at her before he leaves. He comes back exactly twenty-five minutes later to return the cleaned beaker. He looks completely untouched, a feline, satisfied smile on his face. Manami chooses not to ask about what happened.

Asking for various chemicals happens a few times after that - cyanide is a popular one - and she finally asks him, “You’re good at chemistry, why don’t you just get the stuff yourself?”

“I like having a partner in crime,” Karma informs her, picking up a test tube of acid. After a pause, he adds, “Plus, the lab feels like… your territory, does it not? I may be a tiny bit of a rebel, but I won’t be a thief.”

“Ah,” Manami says. “What a gentleman.”

“Yes, exactly,” Karma beams. “I’m glad you understand.”

She sees the endearing side of him - although he seems cold, he has a boyish smile and a bright personality, a capacity for ideas and execution of them. And the thought that he considers her as his partner in crime - that’s a nice feeling. She wants to keep it.

  


Class E is fun, except when it isn’t.

Going onto the main campus is the main reason why. Whispers follow Manami wherever she walks, treading in her footsteps, gripping at her ankles like the shadow that trails behind her.

But she shakes off the feelings of dread and anxiety - she has to go to the library just to see a chemistry textbook. That’s all. Manami sets up her shield and braces herself, ducking into the hallway leading to the library.

Three people - Class A students - come up to her, say some things that drip scorn, and she’s stuttering out a reply as they back her up into a corner. “I-I’m just going to the library,” she finally says, holding her hands close to her sides in growing fear.

They call her things - scum, stupid, hopeless, worthless - just a broken record. She’s heard all of it before. “Listen, I -” she tries to speak up. One of them raises a fist, and Manami closes her eyes and braces herself.

She feels nothing immediately, so she cautiously opens her eyes.

“Ah,” Karma says blankly, looking at the forming bruise on the crown of his knuckles. “What a bother.”

It doesn’t sting much - barely at all, really. The other students hiss at Karma, threatening to report him to Principal Asano - again, a broken record. “I’m already Class E,” he tells them with a sneer. “You can’t touch me.” They stalk away, the student Karma hit staggering behind them, and Karma is satisfied.

Manami trembles behind him and asks, “...Akabane-san?”

“Oh. Yeah?” He turns, looking at her with blank golden eyes.

She glances at his clenched fist. “Are. Are you okay?”

He smiles, quickly letting his fist go. “Never been better! Are you okay?”

She hesitantly nods. “Yeah. I am.”

“Okay,” he says. “Let’s go home, okay?”

Karma gently swings an arm around her shoulder, leads her back down the hallway. He shoots a look over his shoulder before he goes, though - his eyes sharp and cold towards the leaving students - but the gaze he shows Manami is only soft.

  


(They’re quiet for a while as they sit together, knees touching, on the mostly-empty bus. “Why were you on the main campus?” Manami asks to break the silence.

“Oh,” Karma says, glancing at her. “I was in the chemistry lab, waiting for you… I had a bit of trouble on the homework, so I wanted to ask you for help. But since you weren’t there, I thought I could find something in the library.”

He says it all very smoothly, so it sounds like the truth. Manami smiles at the ground. “...Thank you,” she says.

“What?”

“Thank you,” she tells him.

“Ah,” Karma laughs. “I’m sure you could have handled them yourself, right?” he continues slyly. “But… I guess I felt really angry all of a sudden. I’m sorry for showing you my delinquent side.”

Manami shakes her head. “Don’t apologize. I know you have good intentions.”

He hums. “Yes, you’re right.”

The early spring light is a pale gold, and, as she gazes out the window of the bus pensively, the color reminds her of Karma. His eyes, maybe, or the brightness of his smile.

“I could help you with chemistry still, though,” she comments.

Karma straightens up. “Really?”

“Mhm, sure,” Manami nods. “I could text you the -”

“Or we could study at my house, since the school’s probably closed by now,” Karma interrupts. “Don’t worry, my parents are away.” And after a pause, “But I wouldn’t mind getting your phone number as well.”)

Karma’s house is pretty, to say the least.

It’s spacious and well-decorated, seemingly spotless. Art pieces and photographs line the walls, and Karma strolls easily down the hardwood hallways into a large room - piano at the side, a thick carpet layered on the ground, a round table in the center surrounded by two plush couches. “The tearoom,” he tells her. It’s interesting.

They take a seat on one of the couches. Manami extracts her Chemistry textbook and lays it on the table. “So, what was the problem you had trouble with?”

As it turns out, Karma didn’t have trouble with the homework at all - he knows everything regarding intermolecular forces already. He tried to feign innocence at the mention of London dispersion forces, but in the end, just sighs, “Actually, I don’t need help with chemistry at all. I think I just… wanted to talk to you, and needed an excuse to see you.”

Manami blinks. “You don’t need an excuse to go see me.”

For some reason, Karma blushes red, and stammers out, “I-It just makes me feel better, I guess. To have a reason.”

She wonders what the implications might be. And though she doesn’t quite understand, Karma knows quite well - it means that he really, truly cares about her, if he goes to see her without reason. That, in itself, is somehow terrifying to him.

  


**[2] @okudamanami, @chuunihan**

[6:56 PM - okudamanami] Chuunihan?

[6:56 PM - chuunihan] One of the many nicknames i’ve earned, yes

[6:56 PM - chunnihan] But your username is just okuda manami? how boring!

[6:56 PM - okudamanami] Huh? I mean, I don’t have any nicknames. Besides, it doesn’t matter, does it?

[6:56 PM - chuunihan] I guess you’re right. Oh well, it matches you.

[6:56 PM - okudamanami] Of course it does…? It’s my name!

[6:56 PM - chuunihan] Nevermind. You’re cute.

[6:57 PM - okudamanami] Hm...? Then I suppose Chuunihan is cute, too.

  


Karma is called into the headmaster’s office the following afternoon, after school. Gakushuu meets him there, looks at him with solemn eyes over the great desk in the center of the room.

Karma is not easily intimidated. “Good morning,” he says brightly.

Gakushuu just sighs, resigned. “Why did you assault a Class A student, Akabane?”

“He was threatening a friend, you know, one of my fellow Class E peers,” Karma replies lightly. “You’d do the same, right, Asano?”

 _Ah._ “Who was it?” After a pause, “I’d like to know the name.”

“Okuda Manami,” he replies. Gakushuu must look startled, because Karma narrows his eyes. “What’s it to you?”

“No, nothing.” He might have said that in too hurried a fashion, because Karma doesn’t look convinced at all. “You may go.”

  


It takes a bit of courage for Gakushuu to dial Manami’s number that night. She seems surprised and a little sleepy when she picks up. “This is Okuda Manami. Who’s calling?”

He clears his throat a bit. “This is, um, Asano Gakushuu. I just wanted to check in… headmaster’s duties.”

“Oh,” Manami says, sounding a bit embarrassed. “Right. No, I’m fine, thank you, Asano-san. It was just a misunderstanding… I think.”

“I see.” Gakushuu pauses, wondering what he even wanted to say. All words have left him, and he can barely think. “Well, I’m glad. Good night, Okuda-san.”

She laughs a little. Gakushuu feels - “Good night, Asano-san.”

  


See, Okuda Manami was never occupied with formalities. She was always incredibly straightforward, and that kind of honesty reminds Karma a lot of himself.

“You’re cool, Okuda-san,” he says, smiling - genuinely, for once. “We should go and grab dinner sometime.”

This kind of straightforwardness works. Manami barely misses a beat, smiling back at him and clasping her hands together excitedly. “Sure!” she agrees. “Actually, I’m kind of busy this week, so would tonight work?”

“Tonight?” Karma blinks. For a moment, he almost feels… panicked, which is a foreign emotion for Akabane Karma. But he doesn’t show it, of course, and just lets his lips form a smirk instead. “My, my, how forward of you, Okuda-san. Of course. I’ll clear out my schedule just for you.”

She laughs good-naturedly. “You don’t have any clubs or sports, Akabane-san. I think you’re free enough.”

“Ah, well,” Karma shrugs. She’s observant, too, and he finds himself a little wordless - just for an instant. “...That’s true. I was just teasing.”

“I know,” Manami replies sweetly. “Well, alright. Where would you like to go?”

Karma thinks for a moment. “There’s Muramatsu’s ramen place,” he says. “It’s nice. I think you’d like it.”

“That sounds good,” she beams. “If Akabane-san likes it, I’m sure it’s good.”

He almost chokes on air, but composes himself immediately. “...Yeah,” is all he can muster.

They walk together down the sidewalk, elbows bumping occasionally, a few words passed sometimes, but otherwise, it’s just comfortable silence between the two of them.

  


(It goes well. Manami doesn’t even complain when Karma reaches over to deftly steal a piece of tempura from her bowl - not really because he wants it, but because he’s curious as to how she’d react. She just laughs it off and picks a slice of fishcake from his bowl, giving him a tiny smirk that knocks the breath right out of him.)

(Takuya passes by their table a few times to check in, sending a few pointed looks to the two of them, though Karma brushes it all off and Manami seems too oblivious to notice or care.

“I enjoyed the ramen a lot,” Manami tells him at the end of the night. “Thank you for having me.” She bows her head a little and smiles, waving before she dashes off to the bus stop.

Karma waves, too, and feels complete.)

  


Okuda Manami is the chemistry girl, the one most devoted to her studies and research in the tiny, cramped lab of Class E. She gives Karma the last few coins he needs to buy strawberry milk from the sole vending machine on the outskirts of Class E’s mostly-deserted campus, and she’s the one to give him a smile on his bad days. The funny thing is that he thought he was good at concealing his emotions, but Manami seems to just see through it, somehow. “You seem down, Akabane-san,” she tells him, nudging his hand with her own. “Is everything okay?”

Karma pauses, the words on the tip of his tongue. “...Yeah,” he says. “Everything’s okay now.” And it isn’t really a lie, either.

Manami supports him effortlessly, and he wants to support her in turn - but the thing is, she’s built like a mountain, strong and steady and unmoving. She’s already strong, and this fact amazes Karma, every time.

“Okuda-san,” Karma says, “I really believe that you are one of the best people out there.”

She laughs in reply. “Can you really say that when you don’t know everybody on the world?” It’s a teasing remark that makes his heart stutter. “You’re silly, Akabane-san.”

“Okay, fine,” he huffs playfully. “You’re one of the best people in my universe. And that’s all that matters to me.”

Her lavender eyes are warm. “I’m honored,” she tells him shyly. “Hearing that makes me happy.”

Okuda Manami makes him happy.

**Author's Note:**

> plz talk to me about these kids


End file.
